Sunday, September 4, 2011

Sarah Palin arrived to a packed house in the farm-themed “Machine Shed Restaurant” in Urbandale, IA Friday night. The ever-amassing crowd began arriving at about 6:30 p.m. to congregate and socialize with fellow “Palinistas” from across the country. Supporters stood around talking and catching up, many long time online-friends were meeting for the first time in person. The atmosphere was more like a family reunion than a political gathering. There were children playing, doting parents, young professionals, and the elderly maneuvering through the crowd with the assistance of canes. I encountered people like myself and my family, who had driven in from Dallas, TX, those who had flown in from Virginia, some who hailed from Florida, Georgia natives, Iowa hometown fans, and even a woman from the president’s neck of the woods, Hawaii.

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Palin continued to make her way through the crowd to the dining room which was already full. She worked the room and visited with those who had come out to join together to support her in her endeavors. Unlike the typical “politician,” Palin held real conversations with those present.

Take Lynda Armstrong, for example, who made the trip from Roswell, New Mexico. Lynda will be giving a couple of presentations in the coming weeks, one to the Toastmasters and the other to a Women’s Republican Club in Roswell. She met with Governor Palin who took the time to look at her outline and was impressed with her accuracy. “She actually took the time to look over what I put together, and seemed very interested in the parts of my outline that referenced her record as governor, and why she left.” Lynda said, “That’s one the highlights of my presentation because many of the people I meet are still unaware of her outstanding accomplishments as Governor.”

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Saturday morning saw the arrival of even more Palinistas to Indianola for the Restoring America Event, featuring Governor Sarah Palin as the keynote speaker. They began arriving around 6:30 a.m. At that point the weather was great. As the morning wore on, they felt a sprinkle or two. And around 11 AM it started raining, and raining, and raining. One might have assumed that there would have been a mass exodus. But to the contrary, those who came prepared with a poncho donned the vinyl suits. Those with umbrellas held them high. Those who could fit, huddled under one of several open tents for shelter. And those who did none of the above just put on their best patriotic smiles, awaiting the arrival of the keynote speaker, Sarah Palin. The crowd was so dedicated that many of the people stood in the torrential downpour. All of those I asked quickly forgot about how soaked they were when Sarah Palin took to the stage. They repeatedly interrupted her with chants of “Run, Sarah, Run!” and “Sa-rah, Sa-rah!”

“We’re not celebrating red America or blue America! We’re celebrating red, white and blue America!” said Palin of a conversation she and husband Todd Palin had after leaving supporters at The Machine Shed in Urbandale, Iowa the previous night. She spoke about some of her own experiences, referring to the “sudden and relentless reform” she brought about during her tenure as Governor of Alaska early on in the speech. Those who don’t follow Palin closely may not realize that one of the sections of the documentary, The Undefeated, was called ‘Sudden and Relentless Reform’.

As the speech went on, a very notable correlation was drawn between the person Sarah Palin thinks is needed to restore America and the one she just described as having fought crony capitalism in Alaska since entering public service 20 years ago. Palin began to describe what she believes is needed in this way, “It’s not enough to change uniforms. If we don’t change the team and the game plan, we won’t save our country…we need sudden and relentless reform…and that requires deeds not just words.”

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In the end, Jelayne Sessler, of Texas Organize 4 Palin, walked away with what she described as an “amazing speech” by the Governor. “In my opinion, it was the platform for her upcoming campaign, as I believe an announcement is imminent.” When compared to those already in the Republican field, Sessler thinks a Palin administration would be “a completely different approach,” adding that Palin is known for “exposing corruption in her own party,” something she believes the other candidates “would not do.”

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She didn’t say the words, but in what she did say and the excitement with which she said it, I swear I could almost hear her recite a line from one of her famous speeches: